Sanford Riley Fellowship in Canadian History, Riley Fellowship Lecture Series

The Riley Fellowship in Canadian History promotes the study and dissemination of Canadian history. This fellowship is awarded annually to a scholar or scholars of Canadian history interested in pursuing and sharing their interest in the study of Canada with the faculy and students at the University of Winipeg and interested members of the community. The Department of History, University of Winnipeg is responsible for the selection of the Riley Fellows and the administration of the programme.

Funding for the Riley Fellowship in Canadian History is made possible through a generous endowment from Sandy Riley of Winnipeg who is an enthusiastic student of the history of Canada. He is a former Chancellor of the University of Winnipeg and a vigorous supporter of Canada's Natural History Society.

The Riley Fellowship in Canadian History is an integral component of the H. Sanford Riley Centre for Canadian History located in Bryce Hall, University of Winnipeg.

H. Sanford Riley Fellowship in Canadian History Lecture Series began on October 19, 2009 with an inaugural lecture by Dr. Ramsay Cook on the topic of "Who Broadened Candian History?"

The Oral History Centre hosts the audio of Riley Fellowship Lecture series presented at the University of Winnipeg.

For infomation on upcoming Riley Fellowship Lectures see the Oral History Centre Events page. To learn more about, or listen to, past Riley Fellowship Lectures click on a "Story" tab.

THE INMATES ARE RUNNING THE ASYLUM: Stories from MPA.

On Tuesday, January 14, 2014 the University of Winnipeg History Department, The Riley Fellowship in Canadian History and the University of Winnipeg Oral History Centre presented

THE INMATES ARE RUNNING THE ASYLUM: Stories from MPA.

A documentary about a group that transformed Canada's psychiatric landscape.

Vancouver’s MPA (Mental Patients Association) was formed in 1970-71 as a grassroots response to deinstitionalization and tragic gaps in community mental health. Inverting traditional mental health hierarchies, the group put former patients and sympathetic lay supporters in charge. MPA provided homes, work and a sense of belonging and self-determination to ex-patients.

Dr. Megan Davies is a social historian of health who teaches in the Health & Society program at York University, Toronto and a part time resident of Hornby Island, BC, allowing her passion for the history of the province to flourish. In addition to her involvement with collaborative educational and research website projects associated with the History of Madness website, she does research and writing on marginal/alternative health discourses and practices, rural health, food and health, old age, and state health and social welfare provision

Dr. Megan Davies gave a lecture at the Oral History Centre at the University of Winnipeg about the Inmates are running the asylum: stories from the MPA documentary project on Wednesday, January 15, 2014. Davies spoke about the making of the MPA documentary, the project’s value to Canada's psychiatric community and the value of participatory oral history projects.

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The panel discussed the film, lessons of the MPA and the current state of the mental health system in Canada. The panel featured Dr. Megan Davies (York University) professor of Health history and producer of the documentary, Prof. Karen Clements (Brandon University) professor of Psychiatric Nursing and Nigel Bart founder of Artbeat Studios and consultant for Opening Minds.

Video:

Video of The Inmates Are Running the Asylum

Dr. Megan Davies (York University) working collaboratively with academic scholars and talented young artists and film-makers, a group of early MPA members created this 36-minute documentary. Provocative, passionate and engaging, our film has something important to say about social justice, community-building and mental health today.

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The Inmates are Running the Asylum: Stories of the MPA screening at the University of Winnipeg on Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 was followed by a panel discussion.

Dr. Megan Davies is a social historian of health who teaches in the Health & Society program at York University, Toronto and a part time resident of Hornby Island, BC, allowing her passion for the history of the province to flourish.

Vancouver’s MPA (Mental Patients Association) was formed in 1970-71 as a grassroots response to deinstitionalization and tragic gaps in community mental health.

Inverting traditional mental health hierarchies, the group put former patients and sympathetic lay supporters in charge.

UWinnipeg’s Sanford Riley Fellow Dr. Susan Hill presented her lecture on Seeking Historical Reconciliation in the Archives: Adventures in First Nations Document Collection and Analysis on Tuesday, October 1, 2013 at the Oral History Centre.

Dr. Hill’s Riley Fellowship Lecture was one of a series of events during the week of Oct. 1-5 commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Royal Proclamation of 1763.

The archival records of the Department of Indian Affairs document both Canada’s oppression of Indigenous communities as well as Indigenous resistance to assimilation policies. Dr. Hill spoke about a project undertaken by First Nations Studies at the University of Western Ontario to improve access to Indian Affairs records held by Library and Archives Canada. The goals of the project include making information available to First Nations communities in Southern Ontario, developing collaborative research projects between university and community scholars, and promoting a better understanding of the shared territories and histories of First Nations communities of Southern Ontario.

UWinnipeg’s Sanford Riley Fellow Dr. Susan Hill is a Haudenosaunee citizen (Mohawk Nation/Wolf Clan) and lives at the Grand River Territory (Six Nations). She is an Associate Professor in the departments History and First Nations Studies and director of First Nations Studies at the University of Western Ontario. She earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Native Studies from Trent University, an MA in American studies from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Michigan. Her research interests include Haudenosaunee land history, Indigenous research methodologies, Indigenous archives and ethics and Native education.

The event was sponsored by the Sanford Riley Centre for Canadian History, Department of History

UWinnipeg’s Sanford Riley Fellow Dr. Susan Hill presented her lecture on Seeking Historical Reconciliation in the Archives: Adventures in First Nations Document Collection and Analysis on Tuesday, October 1, 2013 at the Oral History Centre.

CANADIAN FOOD HISTORY SYMPOSIUM

In partnership with the Riley Fellowship Lecture series The University of Winnipeg Department of History presented the second annual

CANADIAN FOOD HISTORY SYMPOSIUM

Featuring Dr. Ian Mosby (Department of History, University of Guelph) presenting his lecture “Administering Colonial Science: Nutrition Research and Human Experimentation in Northern Manitoba in Historical Context” on Saturday, 26 October 2013 at the University of Winnipeg in 2M70 Manitoba Hall.

Ian Mosby is an historian of food and nutrition, as well as a SSHRC postdoctoral fellow at University of Guelph. He has peer-reviewed publications in Histoire sociale/Social History and in Social History of Medicine, as well as a chapter in Edible Histories, Cultural Politics. The latter is a significant collection recently released by University of Toronto Press and is the first extensive Canadian history of food. In addition, Mosby has published essays in the Globe and Mail and on the SSHRC-funded websites ActiveHistory.ca and WartimeCanada.ca. His work on the history of food and nutrition has also been featured in stories published by media organizations including CBC, CTV, Slate, and Buzzfeed. His first book will be released by UBC Press in spring 2014. Recently, his work received national attention when he brought to light nutritional experiments conducted in Aboriginal communities and residential schools between 1942 and 1952.

Also Featured: Dr. Janis Thiessen presented “Hawkins Cheezies: History and Mythology,” part of her SSHRC-funded research on the history of Canadian snack food manufacturing and consumption. Dr. Janis Thiessen is an assistant professor in the Department of History at the University of Winnipeg. Her book Manufacturing Mennonites: Work and Religion in Post-War Manitoba (Toronto: University of Toronto Press) was published in 2013. Her areas of research interest include 20th century history of labour, business, and religion, as well as food history and oral history. Her website is janisthiessen.ca and she tweets as @janisthiessen.

Dr. Andriy Zayarnyuk presented “Space for Food and Culture: Premises of the Soviet Train Station Restaurant, 1944-1980.” Dr. Andriy Zayarnyuk is an associate professor in the Department of History at the University of Winnipeg. His book Framing the Ukrainian Peasantry in Habsburg Galicia, 1846-1914 (Toronto: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press) was published in 2013. His areas of research interest include social and cultural history of 19th and 20th Century Eastern Europe, the Habsburg Empire, the Soviet Union, Ukraine, nationalism, peasants, modern cities, and train stations.

Audio File:

Dr. Ian Mosby (Department of History, University of Guelph) presented his lecture “Administering Colonial Science: Nutrition Research and Human Experimentation in Northern Manitoba in Historical Context”

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Dr. Janis Thiessen presented “Hawkins Cheezies: History and Mythology,” part of her SSHRC-funded research on the history of Canadian snack food manufacturing and consumption.

In February 2015 the Oral History Centre welcomed Dr. Stacey Zembrzycki from Concordia University. An accomplished Oral Historian, Dr. Zembrzycki lead an afternoon seminar on the challenges of oral history interviewing, and the next evening presented a lecture on her own research into the Depression-era experiences of the Ukrainian community in Sudbury, Ontario. Dr. Zembrzycki spoke in particular to the challenges and opportunities she encountered in sharing authority with her Baba, an insider to Sudburys Ukrainian Community who had initially helped to facilitate many of the interviews informing Zembrzyckis research, who then became a fixture in Zembrzyckis research method as well as research. This ultimately successful collaborative process led to Zembrzycki publishing According to Baba: A Collaborative Oral History of Sudburys Ukrainian Community (UBC Press, 2014).

Dr. Stacey Zembrzycki presents her public seminar entitled "Telling Interview Stories. Turning Experiences into Narratives" as part of the Riley Fellowship Lecture Series on Tuesday February 24th 2015.

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Video of According to Baba

Stacey Zembrzycki relates her experiences in writing her book about the Sudbury's Ukrainian community between 1901 and 1939. This video is sourced from an interview with Canada's History Magazine in collaboration with the Oral History Centre.

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Video of How To Do Oral History

Stacey Zembrzycki explains the processes of doing oral history. This video is sourced from an interview with Canada's History Magazine in collaboration with the Oral History Centre.

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Video of What is Oral History?

Stacey Zembrzycki discusses the origins and practices of oral history. This video is sourced from an interview with Canada's History Magazine in collaboration with the Oral History Centre.

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Dr. Stacey Zembrzycki presents her public lecture at the Oral History Centre

Dr. Stacey Zembrzycki's open lecture was well attended by members of the public, faculty, community groups and the Ukranian Community.

On the Uses of Memory: Dr. Alessandro Portelli

On the Uses of Memory: Dr. Alessandro Portelli

Acknowledged internationally as the most influential oral historian of the last quarter century, Professor Alessandro Portelli attended the International Workshop on Oral History (October 1 – 3, 2015) where he delivered a number of lectures exploring studies of memory and oral history in contemporary society.

Since the early 1980s Professor Portelli had continued to shape oral historians’ debates about history, memory, narrative, and dialogue. Dr. Portelli worked as a professor of Anglo-American Literature at Sapienza, the University of Rome from 1981 to 2012. Before that he taught at the University of Siena. That Professor Portelli is widely recognized as a leading figure in oral history is evident in the many awards he has received. This year he received the Dan David Prize from Tel Aviv University and was a visiting professor at Princeton University and at Columbia University. In previous years, he was a visiting professor at the University of Capetown and the University of Manchester, an honorary professor at the University of Aberdeen, and a visiting fellow at Harvard University and the University of Kentucky. Professor Portelli’s award-winning publications include The Death of Luigi Trastulli and Other Stories: Form and Meaning in Oral History, The Battle of Valle Giulia: Oral History and the Art of Dialogue, The Order Has Been Carried Out: History, Memory and Meaning of a Nazi Massacre in Rome, and They Say in Harlan County: An Oral History. Two books on Italian anti-fascist songs and on Bruce Springsteen have just been published in Italy.

Professor Portelli’s visit, made possible by the H. Sanford Riley Fellowship in Canadian History fostered a dialogue between Canadian historians and internationally recognized scholars.

Audio File:

H. Sanford Riley Fellowship scholar Dr. Alessandro Portelli, University of Rome, gave a seminar on his latest work in the field of Oral History, musicology, ethnography, and Bruce Springsteen entitled “Oral History and Memory: Current Research and Forthcoming Publications” on Saturday, October 3, 2015 at the Oral History Centre at the University of Winnipeg.

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Dr. Alessandro Portelli, University of Rome gave a public talk on “Navigating Storytelling in the Digital Age,” on Monday, October 5, 2015, in the Carol Shields Auditorium at the Millennium Library in Winnipeg.

Video:

Video of Riley Fellowship Lecture: Dr. Alessandro Portelli: On the Uses of Memory

H. Sanford Riley Fellowship scholar Dr. Alessandro Portelli, University of Rome, gave a public lecture entitled “On Uses of Memory” on the evening of Thursday, October 1, 2015, in Eckhardt Grammate Hall at the University of Winnipeg.

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Dr. Portelli giving a public lecture entitled “On Uses of Memory” on the evening of Thursday, October 1 at the University of Winnipeg.

Dr. Portelli gives a seminar on his latest work at Oral History Centre on Saturday, October 3, 2015.

Dr. Portelli speaks at the Carol Shields Auditorium at the Millennium Library in Winnipeg on Monday, October 5, 2015.